


A Snuggling Dilemma

by terrae



Series: The Tales of Baby Magneto [1]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, De-Aged Erik, Fluff, Humor, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Make My Own Timeline, Kid Fic, M/M, Post Beach Divorce, Post X-Men: First Class
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 13:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9442250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terrae/pseuds/terrae
Summary: The mighty, powerful Magneto, malicious leader of the Brotherhood falls victim to a de-aging spell, and frankly, no one knows what to do with him anymore.Or, the one where Erik is a whiny, fussy baby, no matter how old he is.





	

The Professor sensed his approach hours before the red skinned demon rung their doorbell.

The mutant's determination could be felt from miles away, yet it didn't exactly bring a comfort to the Professor's mind. If a member of his team came to the mansion and not Erik, surely he was not all right to come himself, right? A thousand worrying thoughts displayed in the Professor's head.

"We've had quite enough," Azazel said as soon as Hank opened the door. He looked tired for a usually sharp looking man. "Nobody wants to deal with him anymore. We haven't had a speck of sleep for days, but not anymore. He's yours to deal with now." 

"Are you talking about Erik? I thought he was on your side now," Hank replied. 

"He is -- was," the demon looked reminiscent which honestly looked scary on him, Hank thought. "There was a mutant worth recruiting in Baltimore. It was me and Magneto who went after her, friendly at first of course, but then she grew suspicious. She did not want to come but Magneto want, he wanted to use her abilities. She was a big fight and we went back to the safe house, it was all fine. Lost a sister but that was just about it. The morning after..." Azazel shuddered. "Just take him. No more! Nobody wants to hear him crying one more day!"

Hank's eyes widened. "He's crying?"

Azazel laughed harshly, muttering, "More than that, I'm afraid." before pushing a person inside the house -- right onto Hank -- and disappeared into a cloud of smoke. 

Hank was completely shocked for a few seconds, then he heard crying. He looked down, gasping. "What the..." 

Oh my god. 

The Professor was going to shit himself.  

**

 

"Ororo should be a weatherman! She can predict the weather and  _then_  make it happen!" Scott clapped happily. He was Alex's six year old brother, who was --surprisingly-- way more imaginative than his brother. "You could make it loads of money, Ororo." He nudged her. 

Ororo laughed, ruffling his hair. She'd just turned eleven the previous week and had hit many milestones since Charles found her. They were sitting in a circle, even Charles had abandoned his chair and had happily joined the children for a demonstration of their powers. Scott managed to hit his target, Ororo made rainbows and Jubilee created a lovely show of burning electricity in the air. 

"Now, now, Scott," Charles said, "That would be cheating and Ororo is not a cheater. Plus a control this big, not to mention long term would be exhausting," he explained. 

Scott paused, seemingly convinced then said, "But it would be so cool!"

The other children joined in, murmuring in agreement and Charles was going to think of a way to persuade them otherwise when there was a knock on the door and Hank's head appeared. He was fidgeting, practically standing on his tiptoes as he nodded for Charles to speak with him outside. 

"Is there something the matter, Hank?" Charles asked once they were outside. Hopefully the children weren't going to decide to do anything dangerous while he wasn't looking.

No matter how 'mature' they claimed they always were, it was hard to trust a bunch of kids aged six to twelve not to give in to their instincts. 

Hank fixed Charles with a look, "It's about Erik." He looked like he was trying to form his words. "Perhaps it's just better to come and see for yourself."

"Is he all right?" Charles asked, wheeling himself as Hank led them to some room. 

"Yes, well -- no. Um, it's pretty complicated if you ask me. Completely fucke--"

"Language, please."

"Right. Sorry. It's just... it's very disturbing. Azazel came in this morning looking like he wanted to kill a man which is probably his default look but it was scarier, than usual. Am I making sense?" 

Charles' eyebrows shot up, "I could take a look for myself if you want to." 

"It wouldn't do you any good if you looked in my head, we're almost there." 

On their way Hank explained what had happened that morning, of Azazel's semi breakdown before he teleported away, leaving that child behind like he was an inanimate object. He failed to mention the child's wails though, certain Charles was going to experience this part first hand within just minutes. He told Charles everything the mutant had said, including the incident with Erik. 

"I thought this was impossible but well -- I'm blue and you can read minds so.."

Charles was elsewhere though, "So this is about Erik."

"He's back."

"And the child? What does he have to do with Erik?" A thought happened to come across Charles's mind, of Erik having a son and not deciding to keep him, to have his minion drop his child off at Charles's school permanently because he knew Charles would take care of him but he discarded it, it had barely been six months. Erik couldn't have made a child and brought him to life this fast, no matter how quickly he was at moving on. Unless... no. Charles brushed that thought away, too, and strode in the room Hank had pointed to. 

He pushed the door open and Hank braced himself, ready for another set of crying. Standing in the middle of the room was a boy, teary eyed and pouting, with locks of auburn hair and piercing green eyes. 

_Clutching_  a  _too_   _big_ , ugly  _helmet_. 

Charles merely brushed into his mind before he pulled away, shocked. "My god, he's..."

"2." Hank supplied, scratching at his furry head. The kid -- Erik (man it was just weird to say that) -- had been crying all day in the room Hank had put him in. He didn't know whether it was his  _figure_  or simply the fact that Erik hated him. The latter was a possibility but Hank had been all over the pace to examine Erik's...condition properly. He had waited most of the day searching for a way to just tell Charles, that he didn't realize he might have accidentally forgotten about Erik being kept all alone in the room. 

Erik, who had obviously been crying too hard, immediately stopped when two figured appeared at the door. His eyes moved from Hank and landed on Charles, and in a moment he had dropped his helmet on the floor and ran across the room, wrapping his arms around Charles's legs which were what he could reach. 

Charles had promptly held his breath. "Oh.." Slowly, he brought his hand on the boy's head and stroked his hair while the kid hiccuped and tried to get over his crying. 

"He's been crying all day, I don't know how you did that."

"Isn't it obvious.." Charles spoke softly, as if his voice turned louder, Erik would start crying again. His eyes were locked on that boy, with his head on Charles's knees, completely mesmerized. 

"You _are_ good with children." Hank grumbled, studying Erik closely. The boy appeared to have fallen asleep, probably from exhausting himself. 

"So this is... Erik." Charles said out loud, to confirm it to himself, and to be corrected if otherwise. He already knew though, not from the helmet, he had just always felt that special aura that his friend's mind held. "My god." 

"Holy  _shit_ , that kid throwing a tantrum was Magneto? I thought it was another one of Alex's weird brothers." 

Alex glared at Sean, "Bite me, Cassidy."

"I'm afraid so, Sean." Charles confirmed, finding the situation unappealing even for him -- especially for him. Erik was closest to Charles than any other person in the school so this was quite a new level of weird. "Some mutant cast a spell, Erik was on the receiving end. Hank doesn't know how long it will last but it can't be forever." He smiled reassuringly. No, it couldn't. 

"So like, does he remember us at all? Does he remember  _you_?"

Charles ignored the way Alex specified him and went on, recalling Hank's words and his own trip down Erik's 'new' mind. "He remembers small fragments. Selective memory. His mind is still so young that his memories can't return at full force, or he would break. That's when selective memory comes in. He remembers small fragments, as in he would remember the way he felt towards you for example, Alex," Alex made an uncomfortable face. His last encounter with Magneto wasn't exactly the friendliest. "He can't talk properly yet -- not in complete sentences and frankly, I think that's better. I can safely tell you he officially he will continue to have the mind of a two year old until the spell is broken."

"Where is he?" Sean asked. 

"Hank is changing his diapers. We had purchased them earlier today." 

"That is sick." Sean said in astonishment and Charles was about to reply that, no, Hank was probably not having the time of his life right now when Hank cleared his throat and they all turned to him. "Charles," Hank said, wearing a scowl. "I think he wants you."

Charles's eyebrows furrowed. "What made you think that?"

Hank pursed his lips. "Probably the fact that he keeps saying your name."  

**

"I'm probably not even fit to do this." Charles began, staring at the baby on the desk. It was their makeshift changing table. This was a bad idea... 

"Here, I'll guide you through it." Alex offered. He had tagged along out of boredom and curiosity while Sean claimed he didn't want to be scarred for life and bailed. "Scott was young once. I think it has to be you though, Hank said you're the only one he doesn't cry with. Here, lift his legs but don't remove the diaper yet. "Charles went to do as Alex instructed but as soon as he lifted Erik's feet in the air, he started screaming, fidgeting and Charles started panicking. "Am I -- Did I do something wrong?" 

 Alex himself looked unsure but then he threw in, "Try talking to him. He probably thinks you're his mother. You know, like ducks."

"Brilliant," Charles wanted to tell Alex that Erik  _knew_  this was Charles, but he doubted the boy would hear him over Erik's wails. "Uh.. Erik." God, this was ridiculous. He couldn't even soothe him telepathically as they did not know what Erik's mind could take at this point. "Calm down,  _baby_. It's going to be all right. Just focus on my voice. We are going to make you feel better now, all right? You feel upset and irritated but this is going to make you smile again, although I don't think we'll be seeing your full smile anytime soon, you still have a long way to go." 

Erik had stopped crying by Charles's third word and by now he was staring at Charles in surprise, his eyes comically wide and green. By the time Charles had fixed the diaper to Erik's waist, him and Alex were covered in baby powder, and Erik was trying to fit his whole fist in his mouth. 

"He's hungry." Didn't babies do that when they were hungry? Charles didn't grow up around babies. 

"No shit," Alex supplied, only to have Charles send a glare his way. The Professor wasn't a big fan of cursing, but he was human and understood when the words just slipped. It was why he didn't give the children a hard time when they cursed, only let them go with a simple warning.

"Please refrain from cursing in front of the baby, Alex." As he said it, Charles couldn't believe he was talking about the man who once knew how to own someone in three languages. 

 

**

However strange seemed to be the main element in his life, Charles had to admit that when Sean came to fetch for him for an emergency, he didn't expect this. One of Erik's newly discovered  _abilities_  was the fact that he  _had_  his powers at such a young age. How Charles came to know that, well it wouldn't have been obvious if Erik hadn't taken a particular liking to Hank and suspended him in the air by his his belt. Hank was  _growling_ , but despite Erik being a child, he was laughing,  _squealing_  from joy as he watched the Beast struggle. Charles did not think he was going to forget this sight anytime soon. 

**

 

Getting Erik to eat proved to be much harder than it seemed. Not only did he simply refuse that anyone other than Charles to feed him but he didn't want anyone to sit within a two meter radius on the dining table, Charles excluded. They had phoned Alex's mother, asked how to prepare proper baby formula and the woman had told them. The Professor had claimed he'd found an abandoned baby on his doorstep, wishing in his head that that were the case, while Alex's mother fed him instructions. Not long after, they were staring at a newly made bottle. 

"Babies drink milk, right? That's all he needs for the day. Look at it, it's too big, he wouldn't even finish it!" Sean helpfully put in.  

"Scott drank three of those a day when he was a baby, dumbass." Alex said. 

"You brother is fat," Sean argued, but Alex just rolled his eyes while they watched the Professor, so engulfed in baby Erik that he had absently started cooing at him, his voice higher pitched in baby talk. Alex and Sean exchanged a look before they turned and walked away, leaving Charles to it. 

Charles was trying his best, nicest voice to grab Erik's attention. It wasn't as though Erik couldn't stand, it just felt that the boy was more comfortable in Charles's lap. 

"Food. This is your food, this is going to make you full, yeah? Look at it," Charles waved the bottle softly to catch Erik's attention and with that gained, he slipped the bottle's nipple in Erik's mouth, the baby wrapping his full hands around the bottle as he sucked. 

 It was -- honestly so adorable. Charles tried not to think this was his friend, his  _man_  friend and that he shouldn't think he was adorable now that he was suddenly two. But the way Erik's eyes started drooping made Charles smile. He had no idea how this was going to get fixed, but it wasn't really that disastrous. At one point, Erik abandoned his bottle and crawled in further against Charles's chest, clutching determinedly with a soft  _'Chahs'_ before he fell asleep.

Charles wheeled himself to the room they had prepared for Erik and tucked him in, hesitating before bending slightly to press a kiss to Erik's forehead. 

He wasn't even out of the room when he stopped, uncertain for a moment. He took a deep breath, then wheeled himself out of the room with purpose this time, keeping a steel face on. It was time to go to sleep anyway, so he figured he should retire for the night. It had been a tiring day. He was on his way to his bedroom when he stopped again. This was going to be hard. 

 At the end he was moving to his bedroom with Erik on his shoulder, still fast asleep. He couldn't leave him. For some reason he couldn't leave Erik in that so big of a room in fear Erik would wake up in the middle of the night scared and alone. 

Charles got into his bed and pulled Erik to his chest, staring at the ceiling as he patted Erik's back. He slept so soundly, so  _peacefully,_ despite how he behaved when he was awake. Charles held him securely, feeling a deep sense of security wash over him and slept. 

They were going to find a way to break the curse, but until the time came, Charles was going to take care of Erik. 

It was ironically the first night he slept without being interrupted with nightmares. 


End file.
